Pink Someday
by mellish
Summary: She knows the different shades of sadness, but what about hope? Marlene POV, Oneshot.


A/N: Set right before the events in AC.

**Pink Someday**

Blue is the color of Cloud's eyes, and all the hopes and hatreds and heartfelt joys behind them. I memorized their ocean-depth, framed by his lashes and those eyebrows always curving in some sort of expression that might've been sadness or regret or fatigue (I can't be sure), because I saw them every day up until the time he left. I sat blubbering on the stair-step for a while, believing he would come back later if not right at that moment, and Tifa was trying to get me to move and acting all happy and smiling even if I _knew_ she was just as upset as I was, if not more. Blue is the color of the sea, that one summer when Papa took me to Costa del Sol and I stood not too far out because I was stillquite little, and I saw it stretch before my eyes, endless. Cid told me, a good distance away because the smoking bothered me, that it wasn't endless really, and that he could travel above the whole ocean on his airship if he wanted to, but I haven't gotten the chance to actually ride with him yet and see if that's true at all.

Green is the color of the Lifestream, so I guess it's fair to say that green simply means life. Cait Sith had asked us to hide out in Midgard, and it was there that we saw the giant meteor ever nearing, glowing and furious and destructive. Shera was there, sitting beside me, face hidden in her hands, but somehow I couldn't peel myself away. I didn't have a doubt that Papa and Tifa and Cloud and everyone could save us, and maybe I wasn't afraid – or maybe I was just curious. I saw the pale, miraculous light of Holy cut across the meteor's advance, but it didn't seem to be enough and I could feel things getting torn up all around us but I still didn't stop looking. Then something like transparent ribbons, soft and shimmering and green swelled up from out of nowhere, and it pushed against meteor along with Holy, and the dangerous comet was pushed back and blown to bits.

Yellow is the color of chocobos, although it's been a while since I saw one. The last time was when we went to the Gold Saucer two years ago, not long after the big victory, and Cloud joined the races and we all cheered him on from the sidelines, the popcorn bucket spilling down onto the floor when I forgot it and stood and screamed as he won. Yuffie whooped and said that we could buy a Steal materia from the prize money, but Cloud told her he would use it to help Tifa start up a new delivery service, which made Yuffie start grumbling so bad that Vincent had to poke her with his claw to keep her quiet. She huffed in the corner, Cid laughing, while Papa bought me a new bucket, and Tifa thanked Cloud while trying to contain a blush. I sat in between Nanaki and Cait Sith, and it was just a random thought that yellow was the color of the popcorn (butter flavored), and the crown on Cait's head and the flame at the end of Nanaki's tail (it wasn't the very very hot kind of fire, he explained - in that case, it would've been white-blue).

Red is the color of Tifa's gloves – the kind she uses for practice, punching at that big sand-filled sack until it leaks all over. She uses these special new black ones for actual fights, not that she's needed to use them at all lately, but she says she got them because her old crimson ones are so messed up already. Red is the color of the anger in Tifa's voice when Cloud won't pick up on his phone, and she walks around in a fury muttering about how he is _so_ irresponsible and beyond her help, and _how could he do that_ and then, while I am trying to figure whether I should offer her tea or whisky, she turns and punches the wall and her knuckles burst, because she has forgotten to put on her gloves. She sees me staring and she pulls her fist away, trying to hide it, but she knows she can't so instead she pulls me close and sighs and goes, "Oh, Marlene, I'm just so tired."

Red is the color of the imprint her knuckle made on the wall, the blood turning a rusty shade of maroon.

Green is the color of restore material, which is what I fetch to fix up her damaged hand, and it turns out to help a lot more than any old drink.

Gray is the color of the sky most times, although Tifa tells me it's supposed to blue, the way it is out in the open. I find that hard to believe, but I don't tell her so. Gray is the color of the street and the stone angels that line it, and gray is the shade that the Geostigma takes when I finger Denzel's ailment and hope, although I'm not sure if it's in vain or otherwise. I see the other kids in the street, the bandages wrapped around their limbs and over their faces, sometimes, and I wonder how they can breath while I grip Denzel's palm, frail and cold, telling him to look away because he's going to get better. I know he will. My everyday dress is gray, too, and whenever Papa comes to visit he sees it and tells me he'll get me something better, but I don't need new clothes, I only want everything to turn out all right. Gray is the dust that collects on Cloud's bed. Tifa and I pretend we don't notice.

Pink is the color of sister Aeris. It's the one searing shade that flashes through my mind when I remember her, and sometimes I think I hear her speaking to me, when I'm especially down and no one, not even Tifa, can seem to get my spirits up. She whispers, _Don't lose hope,_ and I see a burst of fresh rose and the faintest image of clasped hands and her pale-peach lips smiling. I think sometimes I'm silly enough to say aloud, "All right." Pink is the color of dawn, of the day when the skies are just waking, when I stand outside home, Tifa and Denzel still sleeping. I try to be brave, try to tell myself that these pains are just in passing, that things will get better. Try to believe. Pink is the color of hope. _Denzel will recover. Tifa won't be mad or sad anymore. Cloud will come back._

Pink is the color of Someday.

* * *

A/N: I don't even really like Marlene, but the idea wouldn't let me go.I think she sounds a bittoo mature. D: I don't remember Marlene referring to anyone as _oneesan/onesan/ojisan _except for Aeris in the movie, so I made her call everyone else by their first names instead (excluding Barret, of course). Also, a friend told me that Cloud's eyes are green (in which case, half the first paragraph is a mistake). I looked at some pictures and they're usually blue, though. I 'm not too sure about that. D: 

I still hope you enjoyed reading anyhow. All comments and reviews (and in this case, info on Cloud's eye color) are greatly appreciated. :D


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